Got milk? —

This Sky has finally cleared; creator is full of excitement about VR, online, more.

Enlarge/ Want to strap into VR? It's optional. Want to play with friends or strangers? It's optional. Want to, er, milk the game's bizarre creatures? That's optional, too. But it's all here, along with tons of other updated features, entirely for free, starting August 14.

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When I caught wind of a new No Man's Sky update launching on August 14, free for all owners, I went through the usual routine of emailing its makers at Hello Games to request some form of access. Anything from a beta branch to a list of patch notes might support whatever I'd end up writing, I said. In response, Hello Games offered a high-class upgrade: a phone conversation with the game's director.

That's Sean Murray himself, the man whose name kept getting attached to stories about disappointed fans—and who thus went into media-blackout mode for some time. Since launch, NMS has benefited from a series of patches, and I looked forward to hearing about even more new content coming to the game, like a VR update (which I'd briefly tested at a Valve Index reveal event in April) and an emphasis on online play.

Of course, hours before my phone rang, my game-news feed lit up with the No Man's Sky community losing its danged mind.

Murray had just hopped onto Twitter and announced that NMS' upcoming "Beyond" patch encompassed "three pillars," and then posted the fuzzy-math equation of "30-40%" of the patch being about VR, and 30-40% being about online play. That left a few percent unexplained. At the game's biggest Reddit community, the highest-ranked thread about these tweets was simply titled, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!"

Once my phone rang, I asked Murray a pointed question. NMS fans are currently frothing at the mouth with speculation and hope for features. We've been down this road before. Does this mean you're not done putting your foot in your mouth?

"We've had a crazy old journey"

This is what it looks like to fly into the landing pad in the new Nexus hub.

The Nexus, as it appears in a standard system of planets.

We don't yet know what every hub and interface in the Nexus does.

What does this thing do? Milk the game's wild creatures? (Seriously, there's milking in this game... scroll down for more on that.)

More Nexus.

Happening upon new structures.

None of the new footage shows off the game's VR mode, but we've tested it at Ars, and it really is a thrill to use hand-tracked controllers to manipulate the joystick and throttle.

A switch to a Vulkan rendering process means soaring vistas like this can run with more particle-filled effects than ever before.

Don't adjust your monitor's gamma; this is just another eerie NMS atmosphere.

Perhaps Murray's return to the public eye, and newfound confidence in teasing the game's updates, has something to do with his sense of shock—shock over the positive reception of last August's massive No Man's Sky update, the 1.5 "Next" patch, was successful by every measure.

"None of us had super high hopes for [Next]," Murray said from Hello Games' headquarters in Guildford, England. He recalled the game's age at that point—two years since launch, and a year after its last significant update—and assumed Next would largely be received by "those already playing the game." Instead, Murray said the free patch drove "millions" in new sales across all platforms combined. (He did not clarify how many of those came from the game's 2018 premiere on Xbox One consoles.)

"That was a surprise," Murray said. "We were very nervous before [Next]'s release, wondering how people would react. After all, we’ve had a crazy old journey on No Man's Sky. Then we said to ourselves, 'We’re definitely never doing that again.' That was a huge update, and it was stressful, so we’re done with those. Let's do what any normal studio would do: small updates."

Further Reading

Some smaller-scale quality-of-life patches followed, each propelling the game back into Steam's top-25 "concurrent player" rankings. Then the team began toying with ideas for three separate patches to round out the next few months of development: a VR mode, an expansion of the game's 2018 multiplayer options, and a "2.0"-worthy slate of under-the-hood fixes. Murray explains that each began modestly, only to spiral beyond their individual scopes.

For VR, the studio planned to deliver a "direct, straightforward port in VR," which he compared to 2017's Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR version. Upon hearing this comparison, a red flag went off for me; the amount of VR-specific optimization needed to map Skyrim's traversal and combat to VR controllers was not insubstantial. And in the case of No Man's Sky, plans for a simpler scope (meaning, unchanged UI and non-VR gamepad restrictions) evaporated the first time Murray sat in its VR cockpit.

"This awesome moment, to sit in the ship, to grab the [virtual] joystick with one hand, the throttle with another, and fly the ship properly?" Murray gushed. "That was it. We were done. We had to do that for the entire rest of the game." This meant a top-to-bottom rework of 20 control mechanics to support 3D-tracked VR controllers, including terrain deformation, submarine controls, and freighters. (VR modes will also work just fine with standard gamepads, too.)

While Murray didn't offer specifics about VR comfort, I can at least point to my brief test of the mode in April as a good indicator of what's to come. An in-helmet UI while walking over a planet and a stable cockpit view while blasting into space grounded my sense of presence in a way that didn't feel dizzying. Still, we're waiting to see how that all feels for more than a 10-minute demo.

Why, you may ask at this point, did Hello Games choose to increase the scope of this completely free, no-extra-charge VR feature update? That became a recurring theme in our conversation.

This seems really cool - No Man's Sky continues to be a game that I wish I liked, but that always draws me in with possibility and pushes me back out with its less-than-satisfying gameplay. Since last year's revamp especially, its siren call is "look at everything you can do" followed by a whisper of "but you will find none of it fun". Legitimately jealous of those who are able to get more enjoyment out of it than me.

This seems really cool - No Man's Sky continues to be a game that I wish I liked, but that always draws me in with possibility and pushes me back out with its less-than-satisfying gameplay. Since last year's revamp especially, its siren call is "look at everything you can do" followed by a whisper of "but you will find none of it fun". Legitimately jealous of those who are able to get more enjoyment out of it than me.

Yeah, I bought it around the original launch, and have gone back to it a few times after the various patches; yet I still found myself spending most of my time in-game staring at my laser as I mined elements to make my frikken ship work or doing the inventory tango. Got boring fast.

And once I did get into space, I usually got jumped by pirates if I had even a scintilla of loot in my lockers.

Might give it another shot to see what's up, but I have a feeling it'll be a similar formula that I just don't find appetizing.

I started playing NMS again and really enjoy it but as a M+KB user, the UI and UX is one of the best examples of what *not* to do and there are a lot of odd design choices that just add tedium and annoyance (WTF can't I create a save point in my Freighter - I have to run (slowly) all the way down to the hangar to jump in then out of my ship to save? Why can't I teleport to/from my Freighter? Why aren't all of the 10 storage containers connected into 1 big inventory? Instead I have to run to each room separately to access and manage 10 different inventories of 5 slots each? (Not to mention the monstrosity that is the inventory management - I think I have 15 inventories which I can only access at certain times but transfer to/from at others and it's 'Beyond' awful.) Also WTF do I have to hold down a key for 3 seconds in every interaction in order to do simplest thing which should just be a single click?!!!?!!

Yeah, I bought it around the original launch, and have gone back to it a few times after the various patches; yet I still found myself spending most of my time in-game staring at my laser as I mined elements to make my frikken ship work or doing the inventory tango. Got boring fast.

And once I did get into space, I usually got jumped by pirates if I had even a scintilla of loot in my lockers.

Might give it another shot to see what's up, but I have a feeling it'll be a similar formula that I just don't find appetizing.

I've over 800 hours in it. It is my go-to game.

No snarky people. No hackers. No constraints on time or story.

I can go explore planets; I can build bases; I can solve puzzles. They even had some pretty decent 'community' puzzles where you could get together with fellow glowing orbs and interact on a somewhat limited basis. I don't have to do anything that I don't find interesting.

Yeah, I bought it around the original launch, and have gone back to it a few times after the various patches; yet I still found myself spending most of my time in-game staring at my laser as I mined elements to make my frikken ship work or doing the inventory tango. Got boring fast.

And once I did get into space, I usually got jumped by pirates if I had even a scintilla of loot in my lockers.

Yup, pretty much exactly this. And then I'll add, when I do inevitably get jumped by pirates - which in most games is an exciting thing I'd look forward to - the actual act of fighting them just feels...bad? Same with literally any combat that happens on the ground - weird and weightless and...I guess empty is the best word?

And yes I know the game isn't supposed to be about combat, but when situations force it on me - or yes, when I seek it out, something that game has been encouraging more through its mission system - it'd be nice if it didn't feel like garbage.

Honestly the most satisfying stuff is flying from planet to planet taking scans of wildlife there, but that can only entertain for so long.

I just hope they allow us to sell starships outright, and dismiss members of our fleet. I know they are not real, but I feel guilty just letting them sit there for weeks at a time and not sending them on missions.

I started playing NMS again and really enjoy it but as a M+KB user, the UI and UX is one of the best examples of what not to do and there are a lot of odd design choices that just add tedium and annoyance

...

(Not to mention the monstrosity that is the inventory management.) Also WTF do I have to hold down a key for 3 seconds in order to do the simplest thing which should just be a single click?!!!?!!

Yeah, the mouse/keyboard controls in NMS are fucking maddening. It's like Hello Games actively and purposefully tried as hard as they could to make the mouse/kb experience as difficult and annoying as possible.

I don't like using gamepads and I'll always use mouse/kb because it works better for me. I've been using mouse+kb for FPS games since GLQuake in 1997. I am officially Too Old To Change(TM). I totally understand that tons of folks prefer gamepads and that's totally fine! But shitty kb+m controls are one of those things that rage-y PC gamers seize on when they bitch about the "consolification" of games, and I really wish NMS wasn't perpetuating the "developer doesn't appear to give a shit about PC players" stereotype.

Hopefully they will license their algorithm to other studios who know how to make a good game. You know, with a plot and story.

Er...nope. Not every game has a plot that needs to be followed. In NMS (and Elite:Dangerous) you're not the hero, and you're never going to be the hero. You're a jobbing pilot seeing the universe and doing whatever takes your fancy.

Part of me feels there's a vague similarity to Amazon here; it's probably not true but I like the thought.

For the longest time Amazon didn't make a profit - they invested all their spare revenue into growing the capability and scope of the organisation. Then, when the time was right, they adjusted some dials slightly - and boom: megabucks.

Hello Games are building a Universe of interacting systems here - I can't speak for how well and flexibly it's architected - but it's growing in scope and power each year. At some point they may decide to add hats in. And boom? Hello Games may have lucked into playing a very long game here (pun intended).

Yeah, I bought it around the original launch, and have gone back to it a few times after the various patches; yet I still found myself spending most of my time in-game staring at my laser as I mined elements to make my frikken ship work or doing the inventory tango. Got boring fast.

And once I did get into space, I usually got jumped by pirates if I had even a scintilla of loot in my lockers.

Might give it another shot to see what's up, but I have a feeling it'll be a similar formula that I just don't find appetizing.

I've over 800 hours in it. It is my go-to game.

No snarky people. No hackers. No constraints on time or story.

I can go explore planets; I can build bases; I can solve puzzles. They even had some pretty decent 'community' puzzles where you could get together with fellow glowing orbs and interact on a somewhat limited basis. I don't have to do anything that I don't find interesting.

I hope the single player experience is still intact and also improved, even though they seem intent on turning it into a VR MMO game.

My 100% biggest issue with this game isn't the UI (which is universally hated, especially for keyboard/mouse users), it isn't with the boring, lackluster space pirate fights, but it is with its storage system.

How can a game that relies on crafting so heavily have the absolute worst storage system ever imagined? No way to sort, no way to combine, no way to drop things, etc. It's maddening. Our characters can create antimatter but can't figure out how make more empty boxes to store things in?

Yeah, I bought it around the original launch, and have gone back to it a few times after the various patches; yet I still found myself spending most of my time in-game staring at my laser as I mined elements to make my frikken ship work or doing the inventory tango. Got boring fast.

And once I did get into space, I usually got jumped by pirates if I had even a scintilla of loot in my lockers.

Might give it another shot to see what's up, but I have a feeling it'll be a similar formula that I just don't find appetizing.

I've over 800 hours in it. It is my go-to game.

No snarky people. No hackers. No constraints on time or story.

I can go explore planets; I can build bases; I can solve puzzles. They even had some pretty decent 'community' puzzles where you could get together with fellow glowing orbs and interact on a somewhat limited basis. I don't have to do anything that I don't find interesting.

Yeah, same. The push for multiplayer never really made much sense to me. It's a game about exploration. I guess hanging out is cool... but that's really all there would be to it. Haven't played it in a bit, so I'll have to go back and see whats going on.

This seems really cool - No Man's Sky continues to be a game that I wish I liked, but that always draws me in with possibility and pushes me back out with its less-than-satisfying gameplay. Since last year's revamp especially, its siren call is "look at everything you can do" followed by a whisper of "but you will find none of it fun". Legitimately jealous of those who are able to get more enjoyment out of it than me.

After the big 1.5 release I bought and played the game and I enjoyed myself. However... I edited memory addresses to reduce the grinding in parts of the game I didn't enjoy. I played somewhere between 20 and 40 hours I believe. i still was nowhere near the end of what you could play or grind to.

This game is built on grinding so if you don't enjoy grinding this game will likely eventually let you down. Everything is arbitrarily limiting to slow your pace of growth. I don't find that enjoyable in the least. Playing with the ship types, trying to find better ships and just sorta looking around were what I enjoyed most. I'll probably give it some more time after this release.

I enjoy playing with my Oculus from time to time but it's for short stints. I'm not sure a game with this level of grinding is really for VR. I haven't tried it so I can't really judge yet. Elite Dangerous which is also just completely a grind fest is a lot of fun in VR and it really benefits from VR so maybe the same is true here.

This seems really cool - No Man's Sky continues to be a game that I wish I liked, but that always draws me in with possibility and pushes me back out with its less-than-satisfying gameplay. Since last year's revamp especially, its siren call is "look at everything you can do" followed by a whisper of "but you will find none of it fun". Legitimately jealous of those who are able to get more enjoyment out of it than me.

After the big 1.5 release I bought and played the game and I enjoyed myself. However... I edited memory addresses to reduce the grinding in parts of the game I didn't enjoy. I played somewhere between 20 and 40 hours I believe. i still was nowhere near the end of what you could play or grind to.

This game is built on grinding so if you don't enjoy grinding this game will likely eventually let you down. Everything is arbitrarily limiting to slow your pace of growth. I don't find that enjoyable in the least. Playing with the ship types, trying to find better ships and just sorta looking around were what I enjoyed most. I'll probably give it some more time after this release.

I enjoy playing with my Oculus from time to time but it's for short stints. I'm not sure a game with this level of grinding is really for VR. I haven't tried it so I can't really judge yet. Elite Dangerous which is also just completely a grind fest is a lot of fun in VR and it really benefits from VR so maybe the same is true here.

IMO NMS is a still a niche game. If you want "progress" and goals, I doubt the update will change that. It's very much a fishing-like game. You explore relax and just do whatever. It's not a AAA made for as many people as possible type thing.

I started playing NMS again and really enjoy it but as a M+KB user, the UI and UX is one of the best examples of what not to do and there are a lot of odd design choices that just add tedium and annoyance

...

(Not to mention the monstrosity that is the inventory management.) Also WTF do I have to hold down a key for 3 seconds in order to do the simplest thing which should just be a single click?!!!?!!

Yeah, the mouse/keyboard controls in NMS are fucking maddening. It's like Hello Games actively and purposefully tried as hard as they could to make the mouse/kb experience as difficult and annoying as possible.

I don't like using gamepads and I'll always use mouse/kb because it works better for me. I've been using mouse+kb for FPS games since GLQuake in 1997. I am officially Too Old To Change(TM). I totally understand that tons of folks prefer gamepads and that's totally fine! But shitty kb+m controls are one of those things that rage-y PC gamers seize on when they bitch about the "consolification" of games, and I really wish NMS wasn't perpetuating the "developer doesn't appear to give a shit about PC players" stereotype.

// I've been using mouse+kb for FPS games since GLQuake in 1997.

got you beat by a few years, with Castle Wolfenstein ... but this. 100% this. I am intrigued by No Man's Sky (i LOVE space sims, wish we could get a Freelancer reboot) ... but I despise controllers. Guess I have to pass on it. Again.

This seems really cool - No Man's Sky continues to be a game that I wish I liked, but that always draws me in with possibility and pushes me back out with its less-than-satisfying gameplay. Since last year's revamp especially, its siren call is "look at everything you can do" followed by a whisper of "but you will find none of it fun". Legitimately jealous of those who are able to get more enjoyment out of it than me.

This is perhaps naive on my part but I like Sean Murray. Even though he overhyped his game and gave some misleading answers about its features. I don’t expect to see a repeat of that error on his part. Yeah, he screwed up, but he is no Peter Molyneux.

I like how you can go anywhere and build a base, but there was no point to it if you're just playing by yourself. Ark has the same problem. Getting strangers together is a good idea for those who don't want to seek out communities or specific servers to join.

Maybe I'm not like as many gamers today, needing specific things to make me happy in a game.

But I started games on the Atari 2600, where you did the same thing for 5 minutes over and over and over again. And there were no endings. No saves.

NMS is better than those games, and I had fun with those games. It'd be weird to be jaded and not have fun in all these worlds and things to do. I just explore, tick off some tasks I've been given, inch towards some place or goal, and it's a chill experience.

Not everything needs to be 100% narrative and linear, driven towards a singular end. Not everything needs to even have a point to do in the game.

It's relaxing, it's easy to enjoy, and I like the look of it. And I love VR, so I'm excited to give it a try.

I just can't pick it back up. I tried the 1.5 update (and I was rewarded with all my named and discoveries gone!)...and I just don't have the time to play this again.

I will say that aside from my displeasure, there seems to be enough players out there willing to support and enjoy the title. Enough that Hello Games is still a thing. I hope it does well!

Side note: I no longer play games like I used to. NMS is an endeavor and requires ALOT of time commitment I do not have. Good luck Sean and players. One more thing: I experienced VR this last weekend...it was only on the PS4 and title was some horror-shooter (Rush of Blood?). Wow...it was fun. Perhaps in the next gen of PS5 VR (?) it will improve and I may have time for it.

NMS is one of the many unplayed games in my library. I did install it and even started it one, but never made it into the game before being disrupted. I wish I had more time to game. I did get a decent number of hours in Elite: Dangerous, but other than that, games for me right now need to be something I can play in very small chunks. Maybe next year...

I picked it up just for VR. I'm hoping it's fun - and at c$20, it doesn't have to be world changing to be worth it.

That said, I'm really not looking forward to all the hyperbolic "NMS in VR changed my life and saved my marriage and made my crippled daughter walk again" posts that inundate /r/PSVR any time there is a notable release.

As long as I don't have to start over - again - I will likely play the bejezus out of this. I enjoyed it at launch, flawed as it was, and I enjoy it every time I pick it up again. The added bonus of being able to fly around with friends, exploring and base-building is icing on the cake.

I wish they could expand the world gen system to make more interesting planets. They all mostly seem to have the same generally indistinguishable terrain and the entire planet is all seemingly the same biome.

So, here's what I'm wondering - I've been playing the experimental branch for a couple months - mainly because it has a new Vulkan-based rendering pipeline; the OGL-based pipeline broke on Radeon GPUs starting about a YEAR ago - after googling several times, the only apparent work around was to downgrade to an ancient version of the Radeon drivers, which I wasn't going to do.

So, I think the experimental branch is basically the same thing as Beyond, yes? So, I wonder if my save games will work correctly with Beyond when released, or if I have to delete and start all over. Because of this uncertainty, I haven't played it too much - I didn't want to invest a lot of time just to maybe lose my save game.